European Union

A fact check carried out by the public TV broadcaster in Sweden has triggered a public outcry. The editing team, which normally focuses on checking the veracity of politicians' claims, had offered a fact check on the question of whether the Holocaust really happened. Swedish commentators are appalled.

In Cyprus journalists and politicians have criticised a glossary published by the OSCE which makes 56 proposals regarding how to deal with words and phrases deemed problematic in the context of the Cyprus conflict. Critics describe the glossary as an attempt to curtail freedom of expression and introduce a vocabulary that distorts historical facts. Cypriot journalists are at odds over the issue.

The EU and China are joining forces in the trade dispute with the US. At the EU-China summit they agreed to cooperate more closely in the areas of economic affairs and environmental protection. Commentators welcome this new unity but warn that Europe must not forget the human rights abuses in China.

The EU and Japan on Tuesday signed a free-trade agreement that includes removing EU barriers on Japanese cars and Japanese duties on EU cheeses and meats. They also signed an agreement that recognises EU and Japan's data protection systems as "equivalent". The trade deal will now have to be ratified by the European and Japanese parliaments. EU Council president Donald Tusk hailed it as "the largest bilateral trade deal ever."

More than a billion people are at risk from a lack of air conditioning and refrigeration to keep them cool and to preserve food and medicines as global warming brings more high temperatures, a study showed on Monday (16 July).

Thailand aims to become free from illegal fishing and forced labour by the end of this year, Virachai Plasai, the Thai ambassador and head negotiator on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, told EURACTIV.com.

The new UN special envoy Jane Holl Lute will be in Cyprus on 23 July to start consultations for a possible new round of negotiations to solve the island's division, after previous talks failed last year, Cyprus foreign minister Nikos Christodoulides said in Brussels on Tuesday. Lute will also have talks with Turkey, Greece, the UK and the EU. "We don't have [the] luxury for a new failure," Christodoulides said.

Russia has urged the US to help it go after a British human rights campaigner in return for cooperation in an election-meddling probe.

The British prime minister faces rebellion from both sides of her party as a key Brexit legislation is debated in parliament. The EU in the meantime gets ready for a no-deal scenario.

Four protesters from the Russian art group, Pussy Riot, who interrupted the World Cup final match between France and Croatia by invading the pitch have been sentenced to 15 days in jail. The protestors called for the release of political prisoners, the end to illegal detentions at political rallies, and halting policing of people's political views on social media. They were also banned from sports events for three years.

The official 'Leave' campaign behind the 2016 victory in the UK referendum on Brexit has been fined and reported to the police, after a nearly two-year investigation. The Electoral Commission found that 'Vote Leave' had overspent by £500,000 (€565,000) on a £7m limit on campaign spending, and had colluded with another Brexit group, 'BeLeave'. The head of the commission also said Vote Leave had "resisted our investigation from the start."

The global economy could suffer a $430bn loss in GDP as a result of a trade war between the US and the rest of the world, the International Monetary Fund has warned, adding that the US itself would be "especially vulnerable", the Guardian reported. The IMF said the new tariffs risked lowering global growth by 0.5 percent by 2020, and the US would find itself "the focus of global retaliation".